The average homeowner or professional grounds keeper frequently has occasion to rake landscaped areas, to remove leaves, pine needles, grass clippings and similar material. This can be a laborious, time consuming task if performed by hand. However, the availability of lawn tractors and riding mowers has provided an opportunity to perform these tasks by having a device which can be attached to these vehicles via a hitch pin. Also, it is possible for the attached device to be capable of being convertible to a second function, for example, as a soil conditioner.
A multipurpose landscaping device was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,190 issued to Perlick. This device performs the simultaneous functions of rolling, raking, pulverizing and leveling of soil. It comprises a roller and spiked downward extending teeth attached to a horizontal I-beam. Examples of other devices for soil conditioning can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,794,306 issued to Blankemeyer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,962 issued to Schaefer. These devices are not multi-functional and have no raking capabilities.
Thus, despite the existence of lawn and garden vehicles with towing capabilities, there has been very limited progress in having a device which can be attached to these vehicles and can reduce the labor of homeowners and professional grounds keepers in raking and in conditioning of soil.